MLB News

Nova faces Yankees for first time on MLB.TV

By
Oliver MacklinMLB.com

Once a 16-game winner for the Yankees, Ivan Nova experienced a resurgence after being traded to the Pirates last August. The right-hander faces his former team for the first time today at 1:35 p.m. ET on MLB.TV.

Nova has yet to walk a batter in 20 innings so far this season and has issued just three free passes in 84 2/3 innings since the Bucs acquired him from the Yankees.

Once a 16-game winner for the Yankees, Ivan Nova experienced a resurgence after being traded to the Pirates last August. The right-hander faces his former team for the first time today at 1:35 p.m. ET on MLB.TV.

Nova has yet to walk a batter in 20 innings so far this season and has issued just three free passes in 84 2/3 innings since the Bucs acquired him from the Yankees.

Since arriving in Pittsburgh, Nova has thrown just 3.5 percent of his pitches in three-ball counts, the lowest rate of any hurler with at least 750 total pitches in that span, per Statcast™.

Nova (1-2, 2.25) will look to continue his dominance of the strike zone as he squares off against Yankees rookie left-hander Jordan Montgomery, who is 1-0 with a 4.22 ERA in two starts this season.

MLB.TV Premium is available for $112.99 yearly or $24.99 monthly, with nearly two dozen features for subscribers to access and interact with live out-of-market Major League Baseball games at 60 frames per second on any of the more than 400 supported devices. MLB.TV Single Team subscriptions are also available at $87.49 yearly.

Here's what else to watch for throughout the day (all times in ET):

Leake off to hot start: STL@MIL, 2:10 p.m.

Despite his club's disappointing start to the season, Cardinals right-hander Mike Leake is having the best first month of his eight-year career.

Leake tallied the highest earned run average (4.69) of his career with the Cardinals in 2016, but has rebounded in a big way to begin his second year with the club. The 29-year-old is 2-1 with an 0.84 ERA in three starts, and the only loss came against the Reds on April 7, when he gave up just one run over eight innings of work.

Leake says he has expanded his pitching repertoire and is getting good movement on all of his pitches, which have contributed to his early success.

"The last few years have been grinding years," Leake said after his win over Washington on April 12. "I'm still working on all of [my pitches]. But at least they're coming around and feeling good coming out of the hand. I feel like I have confidence in all of my pitches right now."

The veteran righty puts his stuff to the test against the Brewers' red-hot offense Sunday afternoon. Milwaukee right-hander Jimmy Nelson (1-0, 4.42 ERA) takes the mound opposite Leake as part of a full slate of games streaming live on MLB.TV.

Triggs trying to remain on track: SEA@OAK, 4:05 p.m.

The Athletics' Andrew Triggs began his Major League career in 2016 as a reliever. The right-hander was promoted to Oakland's starting rotation last Aug. 11 and hasn't looked back.

Triggs has appeared in eight games since becoming a full-time starter, going 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA after recording a 5.76 ERA in 17 games out of the bullpen. The 28-year-old has won each of his three starts in 2017 and hasn't given up an earned run.

Triggs will try to work around the Mariners' middle of the order. Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager are a combined 3-for-5 with a double, two home runs and three RBIs off the righty.

Yovani Gallardo, who is 0-2 with a 6.19 ERA in his first season with Seattle, gets the ball for the series finale between the two clubs.

Shelby slowing opponents down: LAD@ARI, 4:10 p.m.

D-backs right-hander Shelby Miller is coming off his best outing of the season, as he surrendered just one run on four hits over 7 1/3 innings at San Diego. The 20 batted balls against him averaged an exit velocity of just 76.7 mph, per Statcast™.

That average was Miller's best single-game figure in the Statcast™ era (since 2015) and the second best in the big leagues this season for a pitcher with at least 10 batted balls allowed. Only the Brewers' Zach Davies had a lower average in a game this year, tallying a 75.2 mph mark on April 15.

Miller (2-1, 3.50) is thriving early in the year partly because of an average exit velocity allowed that is down to 85.7 mph from 89.1 mph in 2016. His four-seamer is also higher, averaging 95.1 mph this year vs. 92.9 mph in '16.

The 26-year-old righty will attempt to keep things rolling against the Dodgers and Brandon McCarthy, who is having a nice first month as well, going 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA.

Mad Max in prime time: WAS@NYM, 8:00 p.m., ESPN

Any time Max Scherzer takes the mound, it's worth tuning in. The Nationals' ace seems like he'll do something special every time out, and a prime-time clash between National League East rivals should have Scherzer fired up.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner is well on his way to yet another phenomenal season and will try to stymie the Mets' bats as he faces righty Zack Wheeler in the Big Apple.